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When my husband and I moved to Panama last January, we were looking forward to a slower pace of life. Considering that we were only 30 and 32 at the time, we weren’t looking for retirement. We knew we were interested in business opportunities available in Panama, but the last thing we ever thought of opening was a Mexican restaurant in La Chorrera, Panama (a city about 30 minutes outside of Panama City).

I guess you could call me a professional trailing spouse. I was born and raised in the UK and unwittingly married a Third Culture Kid. Soon after, we immigrated to Canada where I built a successful career in real estate. When my son was 9 years old my husband’s job took us to Azerbaijan just after its independence from the Soviet Union, which was a huge culture shock, but also a life-changing experience (in a good way!)...

For a long time, before exchanging my British driving licence for a Canadian one, I would mentally rehearse driving here. Closing my eyes, I would imagine every part of the journey into town, all the intersections, traffic lights and lane changes, haunted by the fear I would end up on the wrong side of the road and terrified of the potential carnage...

For the better part of this year investment markets have been largely trendless. There have been many ups and downs but no clear breakout to either the down-side or the up-side. The current state of things, a slowing and fragile economy in Europe as well as issues with sovereign debt, better economic data in the US, and perhaps a more stable outlook in Asia with lower inflation and still good growth, support the view that we may be in for an extended period of up and down investment market performance. In such a market, and...

Just because you move abroad doesn’t mean that everything in your life is suddenly 100% different. You will find yourself partaking in many of the same activities you did back home, like going to the movies. The hubs and I have always been avid movie goers and didn’t let moving to Panama, a Spanish speaking country, slow down our movie date nights. Waiting in line to see midnight showings of Lord of the Rings, all the Matrix movies, and Ironman 2 barely scrapes the tip of the iceberg. Since our big move in January of this year, we’ve learned a few tips and tricks to enjoying our movie theater experience in Panama.